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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 508 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 508

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
  of the United States should use the full authority of his office to 
 convene international negotiations intended to stop the civil war in 
                                 Syria.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 2, 2015

    Mr. Himes (for himself, Mr. Rush, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Quigley, Mr. 
 Moulton, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Kilmer, 
 Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Esty, Mr. McDermott, Mr. 
Ellison, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Carney, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, 
 Mr. Honda, Mr. Foster, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Pocan) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 
  of the United States should use the full authority of his office to 
 convene international negotiations intended to stop the civil war in 
                                 Syria.

Whereas, as of September 2015, the Syrian civil war has now lasted more than 4 
        years, resulting in the deaths of more than 300,000 people, creating 
        more than 4,100,000 refugees, and displacing more than 7,600,000 people 
        within the country;
Whereas the refugee crisis has been an immense and potentially destabilizing 
        challenge to the Middle East region, and is now affecting Europe and the 
        United States, which have already spent billions in resources in 
        humanitarian assistance;
Whereas continued military escalation, including the introduction of military 
        equipment, personnel, and air strikes by Russia, as well as the 
        introduction of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, will 
        further the devastation of the Syrian populace, exacerbate the refugee 
        crisis, and risk potentially dangerous unintended encounters between the 
        belligerents;
Whereas the current United States strategies to resolve the conflict and defeat 
        the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria have not been 
        effective;
Whereas this includes the military strategy to train, equip, and support Syrian 
        rebels, as well as other efforts to remove President al-Assad and ensure 
        peace and stability in the country;
Whereas the United States, the United Nations, and the international community 
        did attempt significant steps to resolve the conflict and transition to 
        a new government in Syria in the Geneva I Conference on Syria on June 
        30, 2012, and the Geneva II Conference on Syria in January and February 
        of 2014;
Whereas President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry made concerted 
        efforts on September 27, 2015, through September 30, 2015, at the United 
        Nations and with their Russian counterparts, President Putin and Foreign 
        Minister Lavrov, to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria, 
        which is in the best security and moral interests of the United States; 
        and
Whereas Secretary of State John Kerry has followed these diplomatic efforts by 
        participating in the multinational Vienna II talks on the political 
        resolution of the Syrian conflict beginning on October 30, 2015: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the President to convene international 
        negotiations intended to stop the civil war in Syria, which can 
        and should include further pursuing the Vienna II effort;
            (2) requests that these negotiations--
                    (A) stabilize the country and provide for political 
                change towards a popularly supported, accountable 
                Syrian leadership;
                    (B) implement immediate measures to protect, and 
                stem the flow of, refugees from Syria and provide for 
                the return of those who have fled; and
                    (C) create a coordinated international strategy for 
                the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, 
                which is in the best interests of all international 
                parties; and
            (3) calls on the other nations that have an interest or 
        involvement in the region and conflict to join these 
        negotiations and commit to transitioning from the current al-
        Assad government and countering the Islamic State of Iraq and 
        the Levant.
                                 <all>
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